PAC:Miners' families seek truth from inquiry

The families of men killed in New Zealand's worst mining disaster in almost a century want to "get to the truth, no matter what that may be," an inquiry has been told.

A royal commission preliminary hearing into the
Pike River
mine tragedy opened on Tuesday with an emotional one minute's silence to mark the deaths of the 29 miners last November.

Among the dead are Australians Willie Joynson, 49, and Josh Ufer, 25, both from Queensland. The miners' remains have yet to be recovered due to safety concerns.

The lawyer representing the families, Nicholas Davidson QC, told the hearing in the South Island town of Greymouth that grieving parents and spouses wanted to know why the mine exploded on that fateful day.

"Their intent is to get to the truth no matter what that may be," Mr Davidson said.

"They want to determine what must be done to prevent a recurrence of this time."

He stressed to the packed courthouse that families were "not there to make a case", and were not carrying out their own investigations as some reports implied.

"They are not conducting an inquiry of their own. They are here to assist."

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The one-day hearing was attended by more than 20 interested parties, including Pike River Coal, Department of Labour, Department of Conservation, police, unions and the families of the men who were killed.

Three commissioners were present, including Australian mining expert Stewart Bell, who is Queensland's Commissioner for Mine Safety and Health.

In his opening statement, commission chairman Judge Graham Panckhurst said the investigation will leave no stone unturned.

"Of course no one can reverse the tragic events of November last year," Judge Panckhurst said.

"What we can do however is endeavour to understand what happened at the mine, why it did happen and what can be done to prevent it happening again."

He stressed it was an inquiry, not a court case: "No one is on trial, there are no sides, no one will win or lose."

The lawyer representing the police, Simon Moore SC, told the inquiry a "massive" criminal investigation was under way, with at least 100 witnesses still to be interviewed and tens of thousands of computer documents to be sifted through.

The preliminary hearing sets out a roadmap for the inquiry, which will be held in five blocks from May to November.

Hearings will examine New Zealand's mine regulations, Pike River Coal's operational and management practices, the cause of the explosions and the search and rescue operation that followed.

The disaster claimed the most lives of any New Zealand mining accident since the Huntly mine collapse of 1914, which left 43 men dead.